Holiday Season in Atka

I love the light of the menorah against
the blurred backdrop of the Christmas
tree.

It's that time of year. Throughout the land, streets are decorated. Merchants fill their shelves with tempting gifts. Every doctor's office and elevator plays Christmas music. Back at home, houses are filled with the smells of baking. Christmas trees occupy a treasured spot in our homes. Mysterious packages in bright wrapping appear under trees.

Atka provides only a pale imitation of the holiday season. Trees are artificial, if they're decorated at all. No one has a fireplace or mantel to hang stockings from. Given the problems with mail delivery, Christmas shopping had to be done a couple of months ago. There are no merchants, elevators, doctors, or streets. And while we might sing about Rudolph and recite poems about the other reindeer, Christmas dinner is likely to be reindeer steaks from the local herd.

Nearly everyone on Atka is Russian Orthodox. In that religion, the major holiday is "Russian Christmas," which is celebrated January 7-9. The local custom, according to my students, is called "starring."

The celebrants walk in procession starting at the church and moving house to house, carrying a star. They announce that Christ has come, both in words and in song. The star gets spun at each home, which symbolizes the spirit of Christ entering that home. Then the homeowner serves food and drink to the celebrants, who visit for an hour or two. Over the course of an evening, they eat a complete meal. Of course, the schedule of whose homes to visit on which night--and in what order--is set ahead of time.

I've asked one of the local leaders if I can participate this year. I think it sounds like great fun.

On the topic of holidays, I introduced our students to Chanukah this past week. Only one student had ever even heard of the holiday. We watched a cartoon that told the story of Chanukah, then the kids played with dreidels while I cooked latkes. We lit the menorah candles, and then we ate. For the rest of the week, my students wanted to light the candles, even without all the other celebration. It makes me very happy to know that I introduced them to a facet of culture they didn't know before.

A Little Perspective

A colleague on the next island got a pilot to take these pictures of Atka for her. They show better than I could ever tell just how small the world seems from here. The "cul-de-sac" is the "new" village, where nearly everyone lives, except of course the teachers, who live near the school. The buildings along the beach road include the store and the post office. Just at the end of the road, before it turns to the right, is the cannery. It's a seafood processing plant that doesn't actual produce anything in cans, but I guess "cannery" is easier to say than "seafood processing plant."

This is a closer view of the cannery. They employ fishermen who bring their loads up to the dock, as well as people to work on the line. They also take finished product out to the dock where it goes on boats to barges in the next bay.

This is a view of the village from the bay. At the far right is the airport. The red roofed building beside the airport is the school. My house is the one on the right in front of the school. Then come the store, post office, and assorted buildings.

When I figure out how, I'll repost these pics with symbols to identify all the various locations. Meanwhile, maybe this will give you a better frame of reference for how tiny our village really is, as well as how beautiful it is!

Learning to Ride a Bike

The blue building on the right is the airport. The white one
on the left is the school. My house is in front of the school.

There are no paved roads on Atka, unless you count the airport runway. There are maintained gravel roads and unmaintained gravel roads. You could probably count the cars on one hand. Most people get around using 4 wheelers, or bikes in the local vernacular.

I have access to a bike. It was languishing in the garage for a few years, until the District's maintenance guy fixed her up with a bit of this and that. Mostly, she works fine. Getting into reverse is a bit tricky, since you can't really shift into it. Instead, there's a cable running beside the seat that you have to pull on.

The village as seen from across the bay

My friend, a.k.a. the maintenance guy, taught me how to ride the bike today. It's really the only way to get around the island, especially if you want to go where the critters are, i.e. reindeer and sea lions. We drove around the bay, riding in the hills and along the beach. We stopped about halfway at the city dock, which is well-removed from the village itself. I was able to look back across the bay and see the airport, the school, and the village. That's also where my friend took pics of me.

We didn't time our ride too well. The tide was coming in, so we rode through a lot of surf on

I can ride a bike! It's hard to tell that's me under all that
clothing. Of course it's me; I'm wearing purple!

the way back. Other than that, though, it was a lot of fun. Although riding through the surf and chasing waves was a lot of fun, too! I wore all the clothing that I'd been told to get before I got here but haven't needed. Long underwear, top and bottom. A fleece-lined flannel shirt. Jeans. Heavy socks. A fleece jacket. Balaclava (that's the hood that goes over the head and neck). Goggles. Neoprene gloves. I needed every bit of it. I forgot to put my gloves back on after taking a picture; my hands felt like ice by the next time we stopped! It wasn't all that chilly, but even riding at 15-20 mph, the wind was vicious!

An adult and juvenile bald eagle on top of a little cliff.
Probably a parent and child.

Next time I go out alone, I'll take the dogs with me. There's a basket for Shadow to ride in if he has to, but I'm betting he can keep up. Cody can probably keep up, too. Or they can both go back home and wait.

Halloween Carnival

Refreshments table, before donations.
I loved the Purell bottle! The student's
idea, not mine.

Very soon after the school year started, the kids asked me if we would be doing a Halloween carnival. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I told them yes, we'd probably do whatever they had done in the past. If I'd realized that I'd be the one responsible for doing it, I might not have agreed so quickly!

Having the responsibility for staging an event with a history is a delicate matter of balancing how it was done in the past and how logic dictates it should be done. Some concerns are easily ignored, like the suggestion that tickets needed to be red because that's the color they were last year. Other concerns have to be carefully considered. I found some flyers from last year, so I knew the event ran for 3 hours last year. I also knew from, hmm, let's say unsolicited advice from the community, that there were spans of time when nothing was happening. I also heard that some of the games, which are run by the secondary students, had no one attending them.

I wanted the kids to be responsible for putting on the carnival, but also accountable for how it turned out. I cut the hours back to 2. I also refused to have more games and activities than we had people to run them. I made signs that had the name of each game and the name of the student running it. Any student who wasn't at their station would be known by all to be shirking. I had 2 floaters to relieve the kids running the games so that they could play the other games. I changed the way we voted for "Best Costumes," so that everyone got to vote, but I limited the prizes to one in each age category: Child, Youth, Adult.

The kids were part of every decision, whether I made it or we decided as a group. They did all the actual labor in setting up and tearing down the carnival. The student in charge of refreshments baked all the cookies and cakes, made the popcorn, and kept the coffee coming. Some members of the community donated baked goods for the refreshments, along with prizes for the Cake Walk. I encouraged the kids to think of different ways to decorate, that we didn't have to do things the way they'd been done before. I also demanded a higher standard of appearance, like covering tables with paper in black, yellow, purple, or orange, rather than having bare furniture.

I'd say the event was a success. Many of the elders came, although they didn't play the games. They brought things for the Cake Walk, bought game tickets that they distributed to the younger kids, and then sat and watched the community as a whole have fun. When it was time to pull a ticket for the Split-the-Pot raffle, I asked the oldest of the elders to do the honors. We earned something like $350. Next year, we'll do some things differently, but I know what I'm getting into! Now the parents are asking about a Christmas pageant!

Math and Eagles

This is a juvenile Bald Eagle. My friend estimated
he was about 2 years old. And no, we don't really
know its sex.

I was a lazy student. I was also a perfectionist. Math teachers told me to show my work, but I was too lazy to do that. And check my work? But that would imply I didn't do it perfectly the first time!

Really, though, I struggled through Algebra I and II and Geometry. I didn't understand the underlying concepts, so I had to do everything by rote. Eventually, I ran out of memory space for math formulas. At some point, I started to get it, and acquitted myself nicely in College Algebra.

I was about 10' away from this eagle, creeping closer and
closer very slowly, and taking a pic with every step. Since
the camera is equipped with a telephoto lens, it looks like I'm
standing right next to him. I love that I was able to get his
face and those eyes!

And here is that same eagle, flying away when I got too close.

That's why it amazes me every day to hear the things that come out of my mouth while I'm teaching Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Geometry. Each class is taught one-to-one, so I have to understand the content, be able to find mistakes, and explain the corrections. And there's no textbook in the program to help me! I keep telling kids to show their work and that I can't help them fix their mistakes if I can't find their mistakes. I'm pulling phrases like "combine like expressions", "balance the equations," and "reduce fractions to lowest terms" out of some dusty cabinet in my brain. One of the test keys turned out to be lost, so I had to solve each equation on the test myself. I figured if my answer and the student's matched, then it was probably right. That doesn't really inspire confidence in a math teacher, does it? I owe my high school and college Math teachers a note of thanks. They managed to teach me when I wasn't looking!

We let the dogs run around the tundra for awhile.
Here's Cody, lying down in the tundra grass,
nose up, scenting the air. Such a happy dog!

On a totally different subject, one of my colleagues took me for a ride around the island over the weekend. I got some good pictures that I'd like to share. Enjoy!

Seeing and Believing

Shortly before I left China, as I was walking with a friend through her apartment complex, she asked me why I like China. I told her that everyday brought something new, like a new challenge, a new bit of language, or something beautiful to look at. She was amazed that I found her home country beautiful. She had spent time in the U.K. with her husband's family, and thought that China wasn't nearly as lovely as England. I walked over to a low wall near us and showed her the ceramic tiles that had been used to top it. Each one had a dragon design embossed on it. She had never noticed them before.

I was home, sick, while most of the
community was at the school for Family
Movie Night. I saw this rainbow through
my window and ran to get the picture.
A few days later, my students told me
that rainbows are rare on Atka!

That anecdote is relevant to my life here in Atka because there is always something beautiful for me to look at. The mountains are more or less visible, depending on the amount of fog and cloud cover there is. Sometimes I can see the base of the mountain and the peak, but the rest is obscured by fog. If there's been heavy rain, the waterfalls may be wider and whiter, but if there hasn't been much rain, they become narrower and darker. I love seeing the day's weather report every morning when I let the dogs out.

It rains nearly every day, anything from a light drizzle to a squalling downpour. It also clears up nearly every day. The usual rhythm is rain in the early morning, clearing in the late morning, and more rain in the evening. Sometimes even the rain brings its own surprises!

The most fun thing to watch is the pattern of light and dark on the mountains. The dark patches are *not* the shadows of other mountains. Instead, the dark patches are the shadow of the clouds, while the light patches are where the sun comes through and turns the dying fall grasses gold.

It's easy to see the patterns of light and dark as the sunlight
falls through the clouds onto the mountain.

When I tell my students how much I love this island and that it's beautiful, they think I'm joking. To them, it's just the rock they live on. Like my Chinese friend, they don't recognize the beauty that's all around them. Maybe part of my job is to teach them to see.

Weather or Not

I know that the biggest threat to my long-term happiness in Atka will be the weather. I don't mind the cold, but that's not even an issue here. The climate is maritime, so the temperatures are more moderate than inland temps. It's rarely lower than 20º F here. However, there is a *lot* of rain. At the moment, daily highs are running around 45º to 50º F, so I don't even need a jacket to walk to school. If it's raining, I just get wet. It's only 75 paces, remember? BUT, when the temps are 15 degrees lower, the rain is harder, and the wind is 50 mph or more, and it continues like that for days on end, I may not be as relaxed and sanguine about living in this climate.

We had one storm that was so strong it kept me awake until 2 a.m., though I tried to go to sleep around 11. The wind kept rattling the house while the rain beat against the windows and door! I thought sure the rain was coming in my bedroom window. Even the locals were talking about how bad the storm was the next day.

Yesterday, the rain and wind suddenly picked up out of nowhere. We could hear ice beating against the windows. The kids were saying to each other that it was too bad I wouldn't let them go look at the rain. Ha! We stood at the back door, trying to see if it was hail, sleet, or freezing rain. Three of the kids decided to venture out from the eaves. They asked if they could come back in by way of the front door (we were at the back door). I told them they could. Two minutes later, three wet, happy kids came in. Five minutes later, the sky was clear.

I now understand the meaning of the word "squall." It's a very localized, brief storm that's very intense. Rain is common here, and it's usually intense, but short-lived. We might call it a shower. However, it takes a certain combination of wind and rain to qualify as a squall. I think we are now leaving showers behind and trading them in for squalls.

More fresh snow! This time it covers the peaks.

In the picture, you can see a lone storm cloud. This area is so remote that even storm clouds can't count on having a lot of friends nearby. In the South, all the clouds get together with their buddies and make thunderstorms. Here, a cloud's gotta go it alone. I think that's why we have squalls.

Oh, and today our VPSO (Village Public Safety Officer, the local law enforcement guy) did the school's annual presentation on "Drop, Cover, Hold." That's what we're supposed to do in case of an earthquake. Drop to the floor, preferably under a piece of furniture. Cover your head. Hold onto the furniture so it doesn't move away from you.

Squalls and earthquakes? I'm just hoping the volcano doesn't wake up!

The Humans of Atka

Chapter 3 of our Geography text lists 9 facets of human culture. I assigned the students the task of describing Atka in terms of those 9 facets. I thought you might enjoy reading some of their responses.

Family and Social Structure

"There are extended families in Atka because everyone's related to everyone basically." "Almost everyone in Atka is related in some way." "Most of the people that live here stay here."

Agriculture and Industry

"No one on the island farms; all we do is hunt or fish.""We don't have farms, but we have wild reindeer, birds, and fish. We go hunting or fishing." "Atka's residents don't really grow plants. If they do grow plants, they keep them indoors." "One of the main jobs on the island is halibut fishing."

Population

"The population is small in Atka, about 60 locals. When the fishing season starts, the population rises by a third." "In 1990, there were about 80 people living in Atka. Then in 2010 there were around 70, and now there are around 65 people." "The temporary population is like 65 to 70. The permanent population is like 60-65." "Some people in Atka stay permanently. Some people leave with money."

Rural and Urban Life

"Atka is a rural area, a big island and a small village."

Housing

"Atkans live in more modern housing with mainly metal and wood." "The houses are like a trailer with metal pieces on the outside of the houses." "The houses come in two pieces, and there are no fences." "The houses here in Atka are made out of wood. It's a three or four bedroom house, and some people have warehouses right beside their houses, too."

The Arts

"The arts in Atka are basket weaving, native dancing, and kayak making. However, nobody does those arts now." " Dancing shows how the Aleut people lived and how they survived." "In Atka, we have dancers sent to Anchorage to perform." "If you go to the school in the hallway, they have things in glass cabinets that the students in high school made."

Language

"In Atka, the common language is English, but most of the local people over 40 speak their Native language." "All of the people in Atka speak English, and the elders that are like 65 years old, they speak Aleut." "The Aleuts have their own language. It's somewhat Russian." "The language in Atka is fading away, and only the adults speak Aleut."

Religion

"Most Atka residents are Russian Orthodox." "The people that live in or are from Atka are Christians."

Customs and Traditions

"Atka's traditions are fur clothing, wooden hats, and spears for hunting, but those traditions haven't been used for a long time." "They have Russian Christmas and hunt reindeer." "The Aleut people used to trade beads to get things from other cultures." "We believe that the sea otters are our ancestors when they are dead. We never hunt the sea otters unless we have to. Then we use all of the sea otter parts."

Landforms on Atka or Let's Go For a Walk

The newer, taller mountains are covered
with snow year-round.

Sometimes the taller mountains are
hidden by clouds or fog.

My students are studying Earth Science and World Geography this year. I chose those courses because they have some overlap in content. This past week was one of those overlaps. Both classes were talking about landforms such as mountains, plains, and plateaus, as well as sub-types of each form.

It's easy to see where pressure has
folded the mountains.

I decided that I wanted the kids to write about the landforms on Atka (or create a map with the forms indicated), so we went on a "field trip." It mostly consisted of standing in the gravel parking lot and walking along the gravel roads, seeing what we see every day. They recognized folded mountains with no trouble. They had a harder time understanding that the taller, mostly bare, mountains are younger than the rounded, grass-covered ones. We ended up having an introduction to geologic time the next day.

The stream now doubles back instead
emptying into the bay.

We also walked down to the beach. Cody had to go with us so that I could have his help walking back up from the beach. The stream that used to empty into the bay was rerouted and now runs parallel to the shore. I hadn't planned on seeing signs of human interference. So much for showing them a delta! I looked around and saw some boulders near the beach. Expecting to hear something about erosion, I asked the students how the boulders might have gotten there. The city put them there. Drat! More human interference!

After the meander, the stream runs
parallel to the shore.

We had great weather for taking a walk. I wish there had been more we could have seen right in our vicinity, but we would have to ride on ATV's to get to the volcano or pretty much anywhere else. I did manage to get some decent pictures. Enjoy!

P.S.--The mountains now have fresh snow on them. We'll probably get snow before the month is out!

A Day in the Life

What follows is a description of a "typical" school day. Not that any day is ever "typical," but perhaps this is the average of all the atypical days!

The alarm goes off at 6:30. I hit snooze a couple of times, and walk to the bathroom at 7:00. It's quite dark still. When I leave the bathroom, I walk to my office, which is the room where my hanging clothes are. I collect what I'll need for the day, then go back to my bedroom to get dressed. And, of course, to play with the dogs. Cody loves morning play time.

Around 7:30, I let the dogs out, leaving the 3 doors between the outside and the kitchen open so they can come back in. I prepare my breakfast and theirs. My usual breakfast is yogurt with fruit and granola. The yogurt is homemade. The fruit is dried or frozen, since fresh fruit is hard to come by. I make iced mocha by the pot, so all I have to do is pour it out. I'm hoping to get some bottled juice to go with my breakfast.

I leave by around 7:55 for my morning commute. The school is about 75 paces from my door. I don't know how long my pace is, but I'm sure this adds up to a really short commute! If I'm first, and if my key cooperates, I unlock the door. There are often several students already waiting. I've trained my kids that they can arrive at school any time after the doors are unlocked, but they can't arrive in the classroom until 8:20.

My teaching station, with Elmo, is the putty colored
cabinet in the middle of the room.

When my kids finally enter the classroom, they start working on their Journal question. They have 10 minutes from when school starts (8:30) to write at least 3 complete sentences. Then we do Daily Oral Language. In the past, each student had a book with their D.O.L. It was all individualized by grade level, and the teacher checked the work. However, I've found with other classes that if I don't talk about the D.O.L. corrections with the students, they don't really learn anything by doing it. D.O.L. takes 10 minutes max. Then we start Language Arts.

I learned very quickly that these kids have minimal writing skills. I'm teaching them what should be a grammar review at about the 6th grade level. I've also had to teach them the basic format for writing a paragraph and a five-paragraph essay. They're showing good improvement in just a short time. I think they had some of the basic skills, but didn't know how to apply them.

The District doesn't have a reading program for these kids, so I'm using novels. We're all doing the first book together: The Bridge to Terabithia. Once I get a sense of each student's level, I can group them for future novels. I could even create literature units for individuals, if there isn't anyone else at the same level.

The last 15 minutes of Language Arts is when I read aloud to the students. They're really enjoying Stargirl. One of the best parts of reading aloud is that I can read books that are more difficult than they can read on their own. I think the next book I'm going to read is Ender's Game. I hope to read Dracula, though, for Halloween. It's a long book, so I may have to read that next, and Ender after.

10:00 to 10:15 is break time. The District buys snacks for the kids. The procedure for handing out the snacks seems to have existed for a long time. I didn't want to do anything to disturb it. The snack helper--okay, having an assigned helper to do the work is my contribution--puts an assortment of snacks in the bowl. Then the oldest student picks first, and down the line to the youngest.

I sit at the semi-circular table as I dispense
mathematical wisdom!

After the break, it's time for Math. My students range from 4th grade math to Geometry. They watch video lessons, then work in the text. They've learned that I'm going to make them go back and correct everything they miss, so it's better to come to me for checking after every lesson segment. The big surprise for me is how much I understand in the Algebra I and Geometry curricula. I didn't think I had retained that much, and I know I didn't understand all of it when I took the classes in high school. I had warned the kids at the outset that I might not be able to help much in the higher levels, but it turns out I was wrong.

At 11:15, we move into one of the other classrooms for Fine Arts. Today was Music. I've gotten over my shock at how few songs these kids know (mostly), and now I'm working at giving them a decent education in music. My jaw still dropped when I asked them to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and they didn't know it. However, I forged ahead and taught it as we sang. Then I introduced the concept of a round. After we sang it in parts a couple of times, I put on a section of Fantasia, with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm. I told them to pay attention to how the music seems to echo itself, as if it's playing follow the leader. I compared that with the round, which we sang again. My hope is that they can sing Dona Nobis Pacem at Christmas.

A Day in the Life of Cody and Shadow: sleep on the sofa,
wake up, repeat

Lunch time is noon to 1. No school lunch program here. The best part is being able to go home and let the dogs out. Cody is always so happy to see me!

The afternoon seems to fly by. The first 50 minutes is Science. We're mostly working from the text, as we are in Geography, which is the next 50 minutes. They get another break at 2:45. At 3:00, my kids go to the gym for P.E. with Sonja while her kids go to the Art room for Music (or whatever) with me.

I go home to greet my dogs and let them out. I spend most of the rest of the day working on my lessons for the next day. Sometime in the late afternoon or evening I cook a meal for myself. No pizza delivery in Atka! Eventually, somewhere around 9:00, I let the dogs out for the last time, and get ready for bed.

It would probably be a boring life, except I like what I'm doing!

And Her Little Dog, Too!

My teaching partner is a slender, red-headed vegan, originally from San Francisco, but most recently from Reno. She had a rough year last school year, so she wanted to get away and escape to some place less stressful.

She has six K-2 students. That's the age that I'm usually most comfortable with. My partner, on the other hand, has never worked in an early childhood classroom. Most of her experience has been with secondary students. Each of us is working outside our comfort area. We talked about trading jobs, but we both had reasons for wanting to do the exact job we're doing. And since each of us has expertise the other lacks, we have built-in mentors!

We are about the same age (50-something), and both come from a special education background. She is teaching P.E. to all the students, while I teach them fine/cultural arts. Neither of us teaches our subjects in the way the kids expected. I teach Art, for example, with a heavy dose of Art History mixed in. My partner's P.E. classes include yoga, meditation, and martial arts.

Sam is her dog. His body is kind of houndish, but his face looks Labby. He's a very active dog, so he and Shadow get along pretty well. He's also a bigger dog, so he and Cody get along, too. He even gets along with Monster Cat, the kitten that I had to give back to my partner when Shadow wouldn't stop barking at him. The first day Sam and MC were together, the cat was playing with Sam's tail. This morning, I saw Sam staring out the window at some of the kids as they passed by on their way to school. He wasn't barking, just watching the kids. Sometimes he walks into my house to see the dogs. Sometimes my dogs go to Sam's house and "ask" if Sam can come out to play. It's a nice dynamic.

I'm lucky to have such a great partner to share this experience. The dogs are all lucky, too!

The Atka Dancers

The people of Atka are Aleuts; in the native language, they are Unangax. During WWII, they and many other native Alaskan groups were relocated to internment camps. Ostensibly, this was for their own protection from Japanese attack, but it's hard to justify putting them in camps that were little better than prisons. Many village populations were decimated by disease and other problems during their 4 years of internment, Atka among them. Entire villages were burned to the ground while the inhabitants were in the camps in order to prevent the Japanese from using their homes. The most devastating loss was the death of elders with all the knowledge they had of customs and traditions stretching back centuries.

About 20 years ago, a Russian Aleut arrived in Atka. With her she carried knowledge of the old dances. She began to teach the children through the public schools. Adults joined the lessons. The people of the village worked together to create traditional regalia for the dancers. The troupe learned to drum and to sing the native songs.

The Atka Dancers were warmly and enthusiastically welcomed when they started performing at Native festivals. The walls of the school hallways, offices, and display cases are filled with newspaper articles and award certificates from various Alaskan institutions praising the dancers and their contribution to Native Heritage.

I teach a fine/cultural arts elective. I have two sections per day, one with the secondary kids and one with the primary ones. My elective includes Art, Music, Drama, Media, and Movement/Dance. The boys who are my oldest students and most excited about dance asked to use their Dance class for practicing the native dances. I agreed. Today was their first class.

They didn't have a clue how to teach or lead anything. One of the boys who's not part of the group was doing a great job taking the dance apart and teaching it to me while the other 4 dithered. They couldn't recognize that they have to teach the dance, the drumming, and the singing as separate things and then put them together. The class period was mostly spent watching the 4 boys argue.

I absolutely do not want this tradition to die on my watch. I have so many strikes against me--bad knees, bad feet, sciatica--and I'm not a native. Or Native. Yet I feel an obligation to the people who are here now and the spirits of the island to help keep the dancing alive. I hope someday soon I'll be able to share pictures of *my* students dancing the traditional dances!

Teaching in a One-Room Schoolhouse

Our school district uses a standards-based curriculum. Students progress through the grades by demonstrating mastery of the standards. Each standard has 1 or more performance benchmarks. The benchmarks are written on a performance grid which indicates what behavior is 'emerging', 'developing', 'proficient', or 'advanced'. Students don't move through the grades simply because they've occupied a seat for a certain length of time. They only advance if they master the content. It's a sound theory.

In practice, though, the truth has been quite different. Past teachers have been less than rigorous. For example, some of the students told us that last year the teacher would give them a printout of the benchmark. Then the student would google the information and write a paper. The paper had no citations. The ones I've read were also horribly written. They did nothing more than repeat back basic information.

I know this kind of system can work, but I'm not sure how to transition the kids into a more rigorous program. They don't value any work except that which leads to demonstrating mastery. There's no accountability in all the assignments that develop the skills leading to mastery.

Another problem is that the school looks like a hoarder's house! Everything needs to be cleaned out: file cabinets, book room, offices, classrooms, library. Everything! Our library needs to convert to the Library of Congress system. I think we're also going to need more shelving for the books that are piled up all over the place.

The kids are pretty great. Maybe the worst thing about them is that they're too independent. They're so used to doing everything for themselves that they have a hard time remembering that they're the students, and I'm the teacher. Well, that and the fact that none of them can write a decent sentence!

I still think I'm going to love this job, but I wanted to let you know what the struggles are, too.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for the year. I had already met almost all of my students, but this was the first time they got to see what it would be like to be in my classroom. I think they know now that I'm pretty easy to get along with--as long as they don't screw up! Like I'm fine with kids chewing gum, as long as I can't hear or see it. And the first time I find it stuck on something is the last time anyone chews gum!

I'm much the same way with academics. I trust them to do what they're supposed to. If they don't, then I'll be on their backs monitoring and nagging. I mostly think that kids will behave up to my expectations, so I set my expectations high. I get the feeling these kids haven't been given as much freedom as they deserve, considering they teach themselves!

I've got 6 boys and 2 girls in grades 5 through 12. My youngest student is my brightest. My 12 grader needs only two credits, U.S. History and Health, and he'll be able to graduate. My goal is to get him finished this semester, preferably by Christmas. Other than that, my goals are to teach them something without ripping my hair out!

I started a read-aloud program. That means I'm reading aloud to the students. I decided to share with them the rationale for it, which made 7 heads start nodding. The first book I'm reading is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I got through the Preface, Chapter 1, and part of Chapter 2 in the allotted time. When I finished, most of the kids gave me a thumbs up for being interested in the book. I'm really looking forward to this activity. The kids are so lacking in experiences that everyone else considers "normal." This is a great way to help them build vocabulary, as well as experiencing the world vicariously through the characters.

Along the same lines, I got a real shock when I did my first Music lesson with the combined classes. I pulled out my guitar intending to lead them through some familiar folk songs. They didn't know them! Even the teens didn't know BINGO! Puff the Magic Dragon! On Top of Spaghetti! She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain! Nothing! My partner and I decided we have to split the classes for Arts and P.E. because it was too hard to teach the whole group together. I think most of what I'll do with the K-2 group is singing the songs that every child should know. I'll probably do some of that with the older ones, too, but I want to give them some music-reading and some music appreciation. Fortunately, the National Association for Music Education (formerly MENC) created a list of songs just like I need for these kids. They've even got lesson plans for them.

I'm pretty pleased with how the day went. I have a ton of work to do so that the students can work somewhat independently at their own level, making sure I cover all the content areas, but it's work I'll enjoy. For each unit of study in Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies, I want to offer them a choice between taking a test, writing a research paper (or report, depending on the grade), and making a project. I'm getting to be fun and creative about designing projects. I think I'm going to like it here.

Remind me of that when I start complaining about the workload!

Health and Wellness

My teaching partner, finally arrived on Atka Thursday. She had been stranded in Dutch Harbor since Sunday while the airline canceled the flight three days in a row! Immediately upon her arrival, we had a conference call with all the other employees of the school district: the superintendent, the teachers at the Adak school; a Dutch student teacher, also at Adak; and the business manager at the office in Anchorage. Among other things, we were told that all students in Kindergarten and 7th grade have to have TB tests.

On Friday, I took my partner for a tour of the village. Our destination was the clinic, to introduce ourselves to the community health nurse there, and arrange for the TB tests.

I found visiting the clinic to be an interesting experience and quite an education in rural health care. The nurse works under the direction of a doctor who is not in residence. He visits regularly, but I don't know how often. Medications are available for acute illnesses, but no prescription medications are available for chronic conditions. I'm not sure how the clinic is funded, but it will only offer care for wellness and chronic conditions to Alaskan Natives and Native Americans. The nurse was quick to assure us that we would be cared for in the event of an acute illness or an accident, but that we had to go elsewhere to find a primary care provider. I can't even get a TB test, though having just come from China and being new to the school system, I probably should. It's not required by law, so no test.

We both plan to stay for multiple years, unless we find that there's something we can't tolerate. The weather in the winter could end up being a deal-breaker, but neither of us will know until we go through it. However, we're both over 50. My partner is in better health than I am overall, but at our age, things are starting to wear out. It bothers me to think that being a resident of the island, as well as a member of the community, doesn't entitle me to use the only health care facility on the island. As much as I am trying to be understanding and respectful toward the native culture, I'm having a hard time accepting this situation as appropriate.

P.S.--Every place on the island is beautiful in one way or another, but the view from the clinic down to the bay is especially lovely (see photo).

Yakov E. Netsvetov School

My school is the Yakov E. Netsvetov School. For a school that has probably never had more than two dozen students at a time, it is remarkably well-equipped. There is a large gym with a weight room. Also off the gym is a woodworking shop. A long hallway has display cases on one side. On the other side are offices and storage rooms. The hallway opens up into the rather large Library/Media Center. At the front end of the Library is a stage. The center space is open, save for some tables, so that it can be used to seat an audience for programs. Rooms on the perimeter of the Library include more storage rooms, a full kitchen for cooking classes, and a well-equipped science lab. At each of the four "corners" of the Library is a classroom. One was used for the Native Alaskan curriculum, including Unangax language studies. That teacher retired, so we don't know yet how we'll use that room. One room is an Art room; the cabinets in there are stuffed with many kinds of art materials. The last two rooms are the homerooms of the primary and secondary classes.

As of today, we have 11 students enrolled: one kindergarten, one 1st, three 2nd, one 5th, one 6th, one 7th, two 9th, and one 10th. There are 3 others we've heard may be coming, but we won't know until they show up. Or don't! Since there's a gap between the three 2nd graders and the 5th grader, I'll have the students in grades 5-12, while my partner will have the students in grades K-4.

The Math curriculum we use is designed for homeschoolers. That allows the students to learn pretty independently. They watch lessons on a DVD, then do the relevant pages in the text. My job is to check their work to make sure they understand what they're doing and provide help when they don't. The curriculum goes up to Algebra II; my highest student is in Pre-Algebra.

We use a pretty structured reading program for the primary students. Usually, the secondary program builds on trade books. My 5th grade student is probably the brightest student in the school in terms of ability, so she'll be able to handle the secondary program. I don't know if the 6th grader will be able to handle it, or if he'll need to use the higher levels of the packaged program.

I chose the texts for Science and Social Studies based on what the high school students need by the time they graduate and what they had last year. I also chose subjects that I think align pretty well so that I can design projects with overlap. I'll be teaching Earth Science and World Geography. After we've done the physical geography chapters and move on to the regions and cultures chapters, I may also be able to align World Geography with World Literature.

The classes combine for two periods a day, last thing in the morning before lunch and last thing in the day before dismissal. One of those periods will be for P.E. with my partner. The other period is when I'll be teaching a Fine/Cultural Arts class, which will include Music, Movement/Dance, Visual Art, and Drama. Teaching so that the little ones can keep up and the older ones aren't bored is going to be a big challenge. I had hoped to include reading music as a goal, but I don't think I can do it with pre-literate students!

So that's what I'll be doing starting Tuesday. Some of it is straight forward; some I have to create as I go, and some is a little of both, like teaching three intermediate students using high school materials. I don't entirely know what to expect this year, but I know it won't be boring!

Cody and Shadow

Dogs in Atka run free. Cody and Shadow have both lived on the streets, so I know they're capable of running free safely, but they haven't done it while also having a loving home. One of the things I've had to do is train them to be Atkan dogs.

There are no animals on the island that pose a danger to humans: no bears or wolves. Dogs only face one danger: humans on ATVs. Fortunately, ATVs make a lot of noise, and most dogs are smart enough to get out of the way. However, most of the dogs are Cody's size. The foxes on the island are not a danger to them. If Cody *had* to, he could take a fox in a fight. Shadow? Little 9 pound frou-frou poodle? Not so much.

And then there are the eagles. I've had people tell me that eagles don't want dogs; they want fish. And then someone else would say that I need to keep an eye on Shadow lest an eagle carry him off. I couldn't even figure out who to listen to! I finally decided to follow the advice of one guy who seems to know what he's talking about. He said that as long as the salmon are running, eagles won't be interested in a dog. If the eagles start to go hungry, better hold onto Shadow!

For the first day or two, I walked both dogs on leashes. I figured they needed to learn where "home" was. Once they seemed to know that, I started letting Cody off the leash, staying outside where he could see me. His "rule," just as it was in China, is that he has to respond when I call him. He learned that he just needed to show me where he was. I would say "thank you," and he would go back to what he was doing. He went farther and farther at each walk. Finally, he was gone long enough that I wanted to go back home without waiting for him.

There are 3 doors between the outside and the living area of my house. The first door opens into what is essentially an airlock, shielding the rest of the house from wind and rain. The second door opens into sort of a mud room, with shelving for winter wraps and a big chest freezer. The third door opens into the living room/kitchen. I went into the house, leaving the airlock door open so Cody could get in. In theory, he would bark to alert me to his presence. Apparently he didn't get the memo on that part. He will enter the airlock space, and then just wait. Or leave because I don't open the door right away. I usually hear him enter, but not always. We're still working on that system.

Shadow wasn't happy about being left behind when Cody would take off for parts unknown. I know that I have a responsibility to keep him safe, but he's also a dog. I have some responsibility to let him be a dog. I started letting him off the leash, but following where he went so that he was never far from me. It turned out that he didn't want to go far off anyway. The world is big and scary when you're little! He would start to follow Cody, but turn back toward me when Cody got too far away from home. Shadow also seems to understand that he's outside for potty purposes; he comes in as soon as he's done, and he doesn't try to come in before he's finished.

Both boys are well on their way to living the doggy dream. They have as much freedom as they want, plus meals, soft beds, and all the tummy rubs they can handle!

On the Beach

The stream flows over rocks, creating
white water "rapids."

Today started bright and sunny, so Shadow and I walked to the beach. Cody was busy doing dog things, but he joined us later. I found a place to sit and just enjoyed the sights and sounds of the beach.

The pool is deeper than it looks. Note the
white rocks at the bottom. The little black dots
poking out of the water are fish.

From the pool (lower left) the stream
continues to the ocean.

Rocks rising from the sea. I wonder if the
kids dare each other to swim there.

Just below my perch was one of the mountain springs, making its way to the ocean. It formed a stream, with little rapids as it flowed over the rocks. Then it formed a large pool which was filled with fish. Lots of fish. I didn't see them well enough to describe them, let alone identify them. They kept breaching the water. I think I saw two of them playing the fish equivalent of tag. Past the pool, the stream had split to form an oxbow. After that, it ran straight to the ocean.

What with the stream, the ocean, the birds, and the fish, there was plenty to amuse me for an hour or so. It's wonderful just to watch and be.

Yiya and Yogurt

One of the hardest things to deal with in Atka is getting the food I want. I have some experience in dealing with that problem from my time in China. Some things, like cheese, were hard to get and rather expensive when found. Other things, like "ethnic" foods, just weren't available. As a result, while in China I did *not* learn to cook Chinese food; I could buy it everywhere. Instead, I learned to make Italian sausage and bagels!

There's a decent grocery store here, but it has a limited inventory--and it's even more expensive than China! And there's little in the way of dairy or produce. I'm having to learn a new set of cooking skills. My first venture was making yogurt.

The process is pretty simple. Heat the milk to 185º. Cool the milk to 110º. Add yogurt. Keep it at 110º until it's yogurt. Except, I don't have a thermometer. I was heating and stirring the milk, figuring that 185º would be just short of boiling. I think I got that ok. Then I was trying to figure out how to know when it was 110º. I remembered that Yiya used to make yogurt. I couldn't imagine Yiya standing at the stove with a thermometer. She would have relied on her common sense and experience to figure it out.

Channeling Yiya must have worked, because I ended up with a batch of thick, tangy yogurt. I even started with powdered milk! I'm really proud of myself.

Thanks, Yiya!

Star Gazing

When I was a kid, I loved astronomy. My favorite place to go was the Hayden Planetarium. By the time I was in 4th grade, I had read every book on astronomy in my school library. For my birthday that year, I got a telescope. Not that I could see much from my bedroom window in Queens!

There are two things I've always wanted to see. The first is the Milky Way. I've never been away from light pollution enough to see it. The second is the aurora borealis. When I asked about my chances of seeing either on Atka, I was told that it's usually too overcast to see the former, and the latter is too elusive to predict.

I was blessed with sunshine during my first 36 hours here. Sunny days are rare on Atka. The second sunny day was followed by a perfectly clear night. The Big Dipper was hanging in the sky in exactly the orientation it is on the Alaskan flag. With no other lights to compete with it, it looked huge and brilliant. I didn't have my camera with me, and who knows if I'll see it like that again. But if I do, I'll take a picture to share with you!

On such a clear night, the Milky Way was visible. It wasn't as amazing as I expected it to be. The cloud of stars that is actually a view of our galaxy didn't have the pinpoints of light from other stars that I expected. Still, it was definitely something different in a stripe across the sky.

I have a star gazing program on my iPad. I'll have to start taking it with me when we go for night time walks!

Arrival at Atka

Some of the village buildings. The silver-white blob
in the hollow in the foreground is a waterfall.

After a month of travel, we arrived in Atka today. The last plane was tiny; it may have been powered by a giant rubber band! There were 4 rows of 2 seats, and every seat was filled! Shadow's carrier didn't fit under the seat, so he was where my feet should have been, while I sat sideways. Poor Cody had to lie in the aisle. Fortunately, the other passengers kept reaching out to pet and comfort him. I had to give him 2 pills to get him to calm down, even though the prescription said just one-half of a pill. Still, it was only an hour and a half flight, and we arrived with no problems.

My house and car

The plane landed in what looked like a parking lot, especially since there were more than a dozen people and vehicles waiting there. The kids were interested in the dogs. I let one of them hold Cody's leash. There were a few squabbles over whose turn it was to lead the dog. Cody finally dug his feet in and refused to walk for them. Poor Cody! He really had a rough day!

J. is the school district's maintenance man. He took me for a tour of the village in the car that was just bought for us. I have a car! I also apparently have access to ATV's, but no one seems sure how the school has them.

The reddish ridge was glowing in the sunset when I took this,
while the mountains behind were shrouded by clouds.

The buildings are as run down and shabby looking as any beach town. The salt air and winds are mostly responsible for that. However, things are in good repair, for all that they look questionable.

I have a 3 bedroom house. It couldn't exist as a house in the lower 48 because none of the bedrooms have closets! One room has an open unit of white wire shelving, but it doesn't have the "master bedroom" furniture. I'm going to see how much shifting around of furniture I can do on my own over the weekend. I'm sure I can always get J. to help if I have to.

This sign on the school is a reminder that I'm
definitely not in Kansas anymore!

The beauty of Atka was not overstated by the people who recruited me. There are snow-capped mountains, black sand beaches, tundra, and even a few waterfalls. So far, I've only taken pictures with my phone. I should have plenty of time to get out and take better pix. Meanwhile, I'll share what I have.

Where in the world is Atka?

As you can see from the map, Atka is one of the islands in the Aleutian archipelago. In fact, it's the next-to-the-last inhabited island. Adak is the last inhabited island. During WWII, Adak had a military base. Although the base is no longer active, many of the buildings from the base remain. The population of Adak is around 350 people. Atka is smaller, with only about 100 people year-round. The number fluctuates according to the season, since fishing is the biggest industry on the island.

With such a small population, the number of school-age children is likewise small. This year, we expect to have 12 students, evenly split between primary and secondary students. There must be at least 10 students to have a school.

I'm spending a few days in Anchorage on my way to Atka. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska, though not the capital. The school district office is here, so I'm meeting the administrative people I'll be answering to. I'm also buying groceries and supplies to ship to Atka. The only store on the island is sort of like a convenience store, with a limited inventory of goods for sale. I leave in a couple of day for Dutch Harbor, where I'll buy perishable foods. Then, the next day, finally, I'll go to Atka.

The dogs and I have been living out of suitcases for the last month, since we left Zibo. It will be so nice to unpack!